Posted by azdrugrehabctr on June 30, 2015 under Addiction Trends, Opiate Abuse | 
The prison system in California is experiencing a massive increase in overdose deaths, specifically from heroin. Inmates incarcerated within California’s prison system are dying from overdoses at three times the national rate. This alarming statistic has prompted officials to institute aggressive screening measures in an attempt to prevent more prisoners from dying after receiving drugs smuggled in from the outside. Unfortunately, the expensive and invasive screening techniques do not seem to be paying off and many people are starting to wonder if they should be eliminated. However, those working within the prisons feel that maintaining the upgraded screening process is necessary in sending a message to anyone who is considering sneaking drugs into the facility.
“What we are trying to do is send a message to people to not try to smuggle drugs in to the institution. If we don’t do this, we’re going to have people keep dying, we’re going to have continued violence in the prisons, ” said Jeffrey Beard, the Corrections Secretary for California state prisons. Visitors are required to pass through specialized machines that are designed to detect drugs. The prisons are also equipped with drug sniffing dogs, and perhaps most controversial, anyone can be subject to a strip search. However, since the new processes have been instituted no drugs have been found on visitors, causing many to wonder if these techniques are even necessary.
Unfortunately, out of the $8 million dollars spent on the upgraded security measures, a large portion went to drug scanners that are continuously giving out false positive alarms. This means that visitors who walk through the scanners are often flagged for having drugs on their person, but upon further investigation they are found to be clean of any drugs. Critics of the new system point out that ‘further investigation’ means a strip search and are questioning the ethical problems that strip searching someone who is not carrying any drugs poses.
Officials agree that something has to be done to curb the amount of inmates that are dying from heroin doses while incarcerated. In California more than 150 prison inmates have died from overdoses since 2006.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on June 23, 2015 under AZ Drug Rehab News |
An interview with Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee exposed just how many illegal drugs were coming into the country. While border control agents work tirelessly to prevent cartels from smuggling thousands of pounds of drugs like; heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States, it appears that the cartels are getting the better of the agents. As the drug problem continues to get worse in this country, government agencies are looking inward to determine what sort of changes need to be made in order to put a dent in the increasing amounts of drugs available to addicts.
“If you really want a metric that lays out how completely unsecure our border is, and starts pointing to the root cause of the insecurity at our border, it’s our interdiction of drugs. We had Gen. McCaffrey testify that today we are only interdicting about 5 to 10 percent of illegal drugs coming into this country,” explained Sen. Johnson.
Johnson goes on to discuss the different things that make it difficult for the American government and law enforcement to minimize the amount of drugs coming into the country. He points out that the market is so strong for illegal drugs that it acts as a magnet for the drug cartels. Because of the seemingly unending demand Americans have for drugs, the cartels will find a way to get the drugs to them. He describes the whole thing as a business venture that spawns off into other markets. Because of the money coming in from the sale of illegal drugs, cartels also engage in sex trafficking, and exploiting their own countrymen’s desperate attempts to get into the United States. Using people who are trying to get into the country, cartels often force them to smuggle in large quantities of drugs. In order for people to make it across the border they have to pass through territory occupied by the cartels. Once discovered by the cartels, people are made to strap drugs on them and continue on their journey. Sometimes they get caught, but as Johnson points out, they often do not get apprehended and the drugs make their way to waiting consumers on the other side.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on June 19, 2015 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News |
A new report in Clinical Pediatrics shows that children under the age of five are being exposed to marijuana more than ever, with an increase of 147.5% from 2006 to 2013. There was an increase of 610% in states that had legalized medical marijuana before the year 2000.
According to the study, in states that have recently legalized marijuana, young children have an even higher rate of exposure than where it is not. Children under 6 years of age are exposed to marijuana 63% more than in states where it is still illegal. Perhaps even more alarming is the amount of children who are actually ingesting the drug. Researchers found that while most children were indirectly exposed to the drug, but it has been reported that many children actually ingest the drug. This is often because of the growing market of marijuana edibles.
“The high percentage of ingestions may be related to the popularity of marijuana brownies, cookies and other foods. Very young children explore their environment by putting items in their mouths, and foods such as brownies and cookies are attractive,” explained Henry Spiller, the co-author of the study.
A common argument for the legalization of marijuana is that the substance is not as dangerous as some other substances. However, the increase in exposure for young children may not have been predicted, and the harm done to developing brains hasn’t fully been understood yet. For people against legalizing marijuana, these represent valid enough arguments in themselves.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on June 9, 2015 under Addiction Trends, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs |
Needle exchanges are the controversial program set up to allow intravenous drug users a safe place to acquire new, clean needles. These facilities are intended to help prevent the spread of diseases that are associated with IV drug use and dirty needles. This type of program is often regarded as one of the more drastic forms of harm reduction.
Many people are cautious of needle exchange facilities for fear that it will normalize drug use and encourage others to experiment with drugs like heroin and prescription painkillers. However, studies show that such programs don’t impact the situation negatively by attracting new users, and some reports show that they help get more people into treatment by having referral centers available for detox and treatment.
The state of Indiana is currently facing an outbreak of HIV infections due to needle-using substance abusers. In the rural section of the state there have been 149 reported cases of HIV. In other parts of the country, residents are facing a Hepatitis C crisis. The amount of people that have contracted the liver disease have more than tripled in some parts of the country. One of the reasons for this incredible spread is that many people who are carrying the Hepatitis C virus are unaware that they are infected. Unfortunately the most common way to contract Hepatitis C is by blood to blood contact, and for drug addicts this comes in the form of a needle.
The Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence, ordered an emergency needle exchange to stop the rapidly spreading HIV virus throughout the population, and other states are wondering if they should follow suite. “It is critically important that needle exchange programs like the temporary one in Indiana be replicated across the country, and be permanent. Studies have repeatedly proven that needle exchange programs reduce HIV, hepatitis and other infections among people who use intravenous drugs without increasing intravenous drug use,” explained Paul Samuels, president of the Legal Action Center.
Whether you are an advocate of harm reduction strategies such as needle exchange programs or not, it is hard to argue with the notion that we should be using every tool available that helps mitigate the damage caused by addiction.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on June 1, 2015 under AZ Drug Rehab News, Opiate Abuse |
It appears that heroin has not only made its way into Native American reservations, but that it is claiming many addicts along the way. While it is not news that heroin is seeping into many neighborhoods throughout the country, some Native Americans were taken off guard by the swiftness the drug began to take over. With a past that has been laden with relocation, segregation, and conflict with others, heroin seems to be preying on the emotions that are deep within many people living on the reservations.
In addition to the emotional pull towards heroin, there are reports that Mexican drug cartels are specifically targeting Native American communities. Because of high unemployment rates and histories of alcohol and meth addiction, the cartels are able to convince some American Indians to sell and transport drugs for them. While local law enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration are aware of the heroin trend in many Native American communities, it is proving difficult to police. “And we show up and then there’s nothing. I think they have the knowledge of us not being everywhere or the short manpower that we have. They know it, so they’re getting smart about it,” explained Donald Seimy, a Navajo police officer.
Additionally, some drug cartel members, or drug dealers within the reservation are intentionally sabotaging police efforts to curb the heroin abuse problem. Because of the lack of officers throughout the reservation if one issue comes up it generally pulls many of the on-duty officers off their patrol. There have been instances of false accident reports being called in, likely to clear the roads for drug trafficking in other parts of the reservation.
Because law enforcement within the tribes is minimal, it appears that heroin is no match for the small police forces on the reservations. The problem with lack of monitoring and policing only leads to more addictions. Past studies have shown that a child who grows up in households where one family member is abusing drugs makes it more likely that the child will follow down the same path. Because of this, the close-knit community on the reservation gets overrun with heroin addicts.
